
Class_JB-LSS___ 

Book Va TBS. 



PRINCIPLES AND PURPOSE 
OF VEDANTA 



BY 



SWAMI PARAMANANDA 

Author of "Path of Devotion" 

"Vedanta in Practice" 

Etc. 




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THE CARNAHAN PRESS 
Washington, D. C. 



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Copyrighted by 

SWAMI PARAMANANDA 

1910 



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CONTENTS. 

Introductory 5 

Vedanta and Its Origin 7 

Conception of God 9 

God, Personal and Impersonal 10 

Man's Relation to God 12 

Law of Karma 14 

Reward and Punishment 16 

Reincarnation 18 

Immortality of the Soul 21 

Yoga 23 

Karma Yoga 25 

Raja Yoga 26 

Bhakti Yoga 27 

Jnana Yoga 29 

Universality of Vedanta 31 



PRINCIPLES AND PURPOSE 
OF VEDANTA 



Introductory. 

A true principle is that which cannot 
be influenced by time, space or causation. 
Any fundamental truth can stand equally 
the test of all ages, because truth is self- 
existent and not limited by or dependent 
on country, nation or individual author- 
ity. Neither can it be the exclusive 
property of any one people or period. 
"There is no true existence of the unreal 
and the real can never be non-existent; 
the Seers of Truth know the nature of 
both." 1 (Bhagavad Gita) Therefore 
whatever truth has shone in the remote 
past will be equally true today and also 
for the ages to come. Any culture, 
whether physical, mental or spiritual, 

[5] 



6 Vedanta Philosophy 

which has once been attained by human 
efforts, will always be attainable by 
others who cofrie after. 

Truth stands, riot on vain assertions 
or imaginations, ;but on the testimony of 
wise Seers of 1 all ages and climes. 
Therefore, however vague or dim an 
ideal may become, it cannot die, but re- 
veals itself again and again through the 
mighty characters, who seek the reali- 
zation of the real. Not a single truth 
is ever lost. It may for a time be hidden 
under superstition and prejudice, but it 
shines forth effulgently once more when 
the right opportunity comes. Thus the 
fundamental principles of the Vedas, the 
illumined philosophy and religion of the 
Aryans, may have been many times dim- 
med and looked upon as mere legends, 
but have they been thereby less effective 
to guide human souls to the ultimate goal 
of truth and wisdom? 



Vedanta Philosophy 7 

Vedanta and Its Origin. 
Vedanta comes from two Sanskrit 
words, Veda (wisdom) and ant a (end), 
and means "end of wisdom" or supreme 
wisdom. It is the, name given to the 
teachings of the Vedas, which have been 
handed down to us from time immemo- 
rial. The special feature of Vedanta is 
that it is free from all sectarian and 
exclusive ideas and for that reason it 
has infinite scope for tolerance. It is 
not based on any personality, but on 
principles; therefore it is the common 
property of the whole human race. Sin- 
cere study likewise enables us to recog- 
nize that all the noble moral and spiritual 
teachings of the Greek, German and 
other Western philosophies are neither 
new nor original, but are to be found 
in Vedanta; because Vedanta itself is 
the revelation of the fundamental prin- 
ciples of the universe. 



8 Vedanta Philosophy 

It springs, not from any human, but 
from a divine source. It represents no 
special books or doctrines, but explains 
the eternal facts of nature. It stands 
as the record of the direct spiritual per- 
ception of the ancient Rishis or Seers of 
Truth, who were not the founders of a 
religion or philosophy, but the revealers 
of the eternally-existing laws of the uni- 
verse. As the law of gravity did not 
originate with Sir Isaac Newton, so also 
these laws did not originate with the 
Rishis, but had existed from the begin- 
ning of time and had undoubtedly been 
discovered by previous Seers of Truth, 
for the Vedas as we know them are full 
of references to still earlier authorities. 
Thus we see that the principles of Ve- 
danta run in parallel line with creation 
itself ; and as creation is eternal, so are 
these principles. 



Vedanta Philosophy 9 

Conception of God. 

As the source of all these principles 
Vedanta recognizes one Supreme Being, 
one law, one essence, whom sages call 
Satchidanandam, "Existence- Absolute, 
Knowledge- Absolute, Bliss- Absolute/' 
Out of that one substance comes the 
manifestation of these manifold phe- 
nomena. "He is the thread on which 
the different pearls of various colors 
and shapes are strung together." God 
the Absolute is this thread or essence. 
He dwells in the heart of every being 
as consciousness ; from the minutest atom 
to the greatest of mortals, He is present 
everywhere. In Him we live and movp 
and have our being. Without Him 
there cannot be anything. He is one 
without a second. There cannot be 
more than one infinite Being, since in- 
finity means limitless, boundless, second- 
less. Such is the Vedic conception of 



io Vedanta Philosophy 

God, and the realization of this God is 
the ultimate goal of its teaching. 

God Personal and Impersonal. 

Although the Supreme Being is one, 
He appears before us in many forms. 
As it is said in the Rig- Veda, "Truth is 
one, wise men call It by various names 
(and worship It under different forms 
according to their comprehension )." 
Herein lies the secret of tolerance, which 
constitutes the special characteristic of 
Vedanta. An Infinite Being must have 
infinite paths leading to Him. These 
infinite names, forms and paths are to 
suit the varying tendencies of His in- 
numerable children. Therefore He is 
sometimes personal and sometimes im- 
personal. Those who seek to realize 
Him as an impersonal or abstract ideal, 
following the path of philosophic dis- 
crimination, see Him in the Self and the 



Vedanta Philosophy n 

Self in all beings. Through this they 
transcend all human limitations and find 
absolute peace and bliss in oneness. 

"When the knower of Self finds all 
beings within himself, how can there be 
any more sorrow or delusion for him 
who sees this oneness." (Upanishads). 

To those who cannot follow the ab- 
stract ideal, He appears as a personal 
God, a God of infinite love, infinite 
beauty, the source of all blessed qualities. 
With these He establishes the personal 
relationship of loving Mother, loving 
Father, Child, or Friend; and one who 
sincerely strives through this path of per- 
sonal worship with true love and devotion 
also attains the realization of the Su- 
preme. For it must always be remem- 
bered that the worship of the personal 
or impersonal takes us to the same goal. 
" Whoever comes to Me (the Lord) by 
whatsoever path, I reach Him. All men 



12 Vedanta Philosophy 

are struggling through paths which ulti- 
mately lead to Me." (Bhagavad Gita) 

Man's Relation to God. 

According to the teaching of Vedanta, 
this realization of God, or at-onement 
with Him, is the aim of human life ; nay, 
it is our birthright. Forgetfulness of 
our true nature or Godhood is the source 
of all misery. There is no real difference 
between Jivatman (individual self) and 
Paramatman (the Supreme Self), ex- 
cept that the individual has taken a 
covering of limitations on him in the 
shape of name, form and various quali- 
ties, while the Supreme Self dwells be- 
yond these. It is the same conscious 
spirit which exists in both ; only in one 
case it shines partially, owing to limit- 
ation, and in the other it shines fully 
and freely. So when through purity and 
wisdom man finds his real Self, then this 



Vedanta Philosophy 13 

veil drops off and man and God become 
one and inseparable. "The knower of 
Brahman (Truth) becomes one with 
Him;" or as Jesus said, "I and my 
Father are one." 

This relation of man to God has been 
clearly set forth in one of the Upani- 
shads thus: Two inseparable birds of 
golden plumage are sitting on the same 
tree ; one eats the fruits of the tree, some- 
times sweet, sometimes bitter; the other, 
not tasting the fruit, sits above as wit- 
ness, calm, majestic and merged in his 
own glory. So the Jiva (individual 
Self) and God (the Supreme Self) are 
sitting on the tree of life. The Jiva, 
after tasting the different fruits of ex- 
perience, both sweet and bitter, and 
grieving over his own impotence, be- 
comes bewildered; but when he looks 
upon the other bird — the Lord, beholds 
His mightiness and realizes that they are 



14 Vedanta Philosophy 

really one, then his sorrow and delusion 
pass away. This vision of the Self re- 
moves all sense of duality and the One 
shines alone as the infinite, omnipotent 
Being. 

Man can never be robbed of this 
divine birthright. No amount of wrong- 
doing can ever destroy it. His misdeeds 
may cause delusion and make him suffer, 
but after going through many experi- 
ences, both sweet and bitter, he is sure 
at last to find his divinity and be freed 
from all bondage. 

Law of Karma. 

Though we all posses the same germ 
of divinity within us, yet we are not all 
equal. What is the cause of this inequal- 
ity? Why is one born happy and an- 
other miserable, one intelligent and an- 
other dull? The difference lies in the 
degree of manifestation or unfoldment 



Vedanta Philosophy 15 

of the same divine power, which makes 
one great in wisdom and enables him to 
go through the varying conditions of life 
with courage and serenity, while another, 
whose mind is veiled, constantly makes 
mistakes and suffers. God does not send 
happiness to one soul and grief to an- 
other arbitrarily. "The All-pervading 
One partaketh neither of the evil nor of 
the good of any creature. Wisdom is 
covered by ignorance, thus mortals are 
deluded." 

The Hindus do not blame an invisi- 
ble Providence for all the suffering in 
this world, but explain it through the 
natural law of cause and effect. If a 
man is born fortunate or wretched, there 
must be some reason for it; if therefore 
we cannot find the cause for it in this life, 
it must have occurred in some previous 
existence, since no effect is possible with- 
out a cause. All the good that comes to 



1 6 Vedanta Philosophy 

us is what we have earned through our 
own effort ; and whatever evil there is, is 
the result of our own past mistakes. As, 
moreover, our present has been shaped 
by our past, so our future will be mould- 
ed by our present. This brings great 
hope and comfort, since what we our- 
selves make, we can also unmake. There- 
fore, instead of grieving over our past 
mistakes, if we direct our present ener- 
gies with whole-hearted earnestness to- 
wards counteracting the results of past 
actions, we can make our future better 
and brighter. 

This is the law of Karma, which in 
accounting for all the inequalities among 
human beings on natural grounds, does 
not make God partial or unjust. 

Reward and Punishment. 

The idea of reward and punishment 
also springs from this law. Whatever 



Vedanta Philosophy ly 

we sow, we must reap. It cannot be 
otherwise. An apple tree cannot be pro- 
duced out of a mango seed, nor a mango 
from an apple seed. If a person spends 
all his life in evil-thinking and wrong- 
doing, then it is useless for him to look 
for happiness hereafter; because our 
hereafter is not a matter of chance, but 
follows as the reaction of our present 
action. Similarly a man of virtuous 
deeds must reap as their result happi- 
ness, which none can take away from 
him. The nature of sin, which may be 
defined as the sum-total of all our un- 
kind and selfish thoughts and deeds, is 
to make the veil which separates us from 
God thicker. The nature of virtue is to 
make this veil thinner and thinner. And 
since God is the source of all bliss, tfce 
one must inevitably bring physical and 
mental suffering, while the other must 
bring peace and joy. 



18 Vedanta Philosophy 

We should, however, never lose sight 
of the fact that all these ideas of reward 
and punishment exist in the realm 
of relativity or finiteness. No soul can 
ever be doomed eternally through his 
finite evil deeds ; for the cause and effect 
must always be equal. Thus we can 
see through our common sense that the 
theory of eternal perdition and eternal 
heaven is impossible and illogical, since 
no finite action can create an infinite 
result. Hence according to Vedanta, the 
goal of mankind is neither temporal 
pleasure nor pain, but Mukti or absolute 
freedom ; and each soul is consciously or 
unconsciously marching towards this 
goal through the various experiences of 
life and death. 

Reincarnation. 

The theory of evolution is entirely 
based on the law of Karma, for it is 



Vedanta Philosophy 19 

evident that something cannot evolve out 
of nothing. This law also offers a satis- 
factory and logical explanation for all 
the physical and mental tendencies 
which we have at birth. Whenever a 
man is born with any extraordinary 
power and wisdom, know that he 
possessed it even before coming into this 
body; because we do not acquire any 
power or quality accidentally, but all our 
knowledge and ability are based on past 
experiences or series of causes. So also 
is it with one who from his very birth is 
devoid of proper physique or intellectual 
faculties. 

According to the theory of Reincar- 
nation every soul passes through the 
various experiences of births and re- 
births until it attains its original perfec- 
tion. Each time a soul is born here it 
brings with it the fruit of all its pre- 
vious existence, which determines its 



20 Vedanta Philosophy 

character and environment in this life. 
Since these are the result of a man's 
own effort, it cannot be said that he in- 
herits his virtuous or vicious tendencies 
from his parents, but souls are drawn to 
that environment which is in accordance 
with their merits and best suited for 
their growth. As furthermore like at- 
tracts like, so we often find children and 
parents resembling one another. 

Vedanta recognizes that the theory of 
evolution is not complete if confined only 
to material phenomena. It must also ex- 
tend through the higher realms of man's 
spiritual consciousness. Each individual 
has within him the germ of perfection, 
which does not reach its full unfoldment 
with the attainment of a human body or 
in one life-time. Therefore it is necessary 
for the embodied soul to continue to 
evolve through manifold experiences of 
pleasure and pain until this germ has 



Vedanta Philosophy 21 

reached its full manifestation of spiritual 
consciousness. The object of our com- 
ing into human life is to gain self-knowl- 
edge and when that is attained the bond 
of slavery breaks forever, man becomes 
divine and does not have to come here 
again like a slave. The theory of Rein- 
carnation, as we thus see, is nothing 
more than the theory of evolution carried 
to its logical conclusion. 

Immortality of the Soul. 

The immortality of the soul is another 
fundamental principle of the Vedanta 
philosophy. The Self of man is not sub- 
ject to change, nay, it is birthless and 
deathless. Birth, death and all that lies 
between have to do only with the physical 
body, which has beginning and must 
necessarily come to an end. They do 
not touch the soul. "The Self is not 
born, neither does It die, nor having 



22 Vedanta Philosophy 

been does It cease to exist. Unborn, 
eternal, unchangeable, ever-existent, It is 
not destroyed when the body is 
destroyed." (Bhagavad Gita) 

Body decays, but not the soul, which 
only dwells within the body and per- 
meates it with life and consciousness, 
but which is not tainted by any bodily 
action or condition any more than the 
sun is affected by the dust-covered win- 
dow through which it shines. For a true 
Seer the body is only a dwelling-house 
or an instrument which he uses for the 
attainment of his original state of God- 
consciousness. Death is nothing but 
going from one house to another, until 
the soul has freed itself from attachment 
to ephemeral things and gained its re- 
lease from the bonds of Karma. Karma 
has no power over the real Self. It 
binds only the apparent or external man, 
who identifies himself with nature and 



Vedanta Philosophy 23 

thus comes under the law of action and 
reaction or cause and effect. Through 
wisdom alone the individual can trans- 
cend this law and rise above the duali- 
ties of heat and cold, pleasure and pain, 
and realize his immortal nature. 

The idea of immortality necessarily 
presupposes our pre-existence, since eter- 
nity cannot extend in one direction alone. 
It is evident that that which has no end 
can have no beginning. As this present 
life will be a pre-existence for our future 
life, so in the same way, the present must 
have been preceded by other lives. The 
Self is always the same in past, present 
and future ; but only when our heart un- 
folds, do we perceive Its everlasting 
glory and thus conquer our last enemy, 
death. 

Yoga. 

The practical part of the teaching of 
Vedanta is called Yoga, which literally 



24 Vedanta Philosophy 

means "joining" or union between the 
lower self and higher Self. It offers cer- 
tain methods for the training of mind 
and body to make them fit instruments 
for the manifestation of the perfection 
already in every human being. When 
the limited apparent man finds his 
limitless Self within and unites himself 
with it, he becomes illumined. Jesus 
expresses the same idea when He speaks 
of "communion with God." This 
method of communion with the Divine 
is what is meant by Yoga. There is no 
mystery in it, as many suppose. It is a 
science entirely based on the direct ob- 
servation and experience of perfected 
Yogis, or illumined souls, and is a dear, 
logical system for the unfoldment of 
our spiritual nature. It teaches us how 
to stop frittering our energies unneces- 
sarily and to use them properly for our 
greatest good. Its main object is to 



Vedanta Philosophy 25 

unite all our mental and physical forces 
into one strong current, which will carry 
us to the realization of the Supreme. 

Yoga is divided into four principal 
paths to suit different temperaments : 

Karma Yoga. 

Karma Yoga is the path of work and 
teaches us how to perform all our duties 
without creating bondage. Activity is 
an inherent tendency in every lhr.ng 
being, but to learn to direct it through 
the proper channel without waste is the 
aim of Karma Yoga. A faithful fol- 
lower of this path works like others, but 
he gives up all selfish desire and attach- 
ment and thereby avoids reaction and 
suffering. His ideal is to work for the 
love of the work, without any uiterior 
motive. If good result comes, he does 
not take the credit of it, neither does he 
take on himself the discredit if he fails; 



26 Vedanta Philosophy 

but he offers all the fruits of his actions, 
both good and bad, unto the Lord, who 
is the real Doer of all action. This is 
the secret taught by Sri Krishna in th6 
Gita when He says: "To work we have 
the right but not to the fruits thereof." 
He who knows this secret, to him every 
action becomes an act of worship and 
leads him to the highest realization. 

Raja Yoga. 

Raja Yoga teaches us how to control 
both our internal and external nature. 
The first step is to govern the forces 
which manifest through our physical 
body and focus them into one. Through 
this we gain proper balance or perfect 
health in our outer nature. Health is 
absolutely necessary for our spiritual 
growth, since the body is the instru- 
ment for the manifestation of the spirit 
and if not in proper condition, becomes 



Vedanta Philosophy 27 

an obstacle. Therefore the Yogis have 
prescribed certain postures and methods 
of breathing, through which we may 
purify our system and prevent disease. 
The next and more important step is to 
control our mind and senses, or internal 
nature. This is done through the practice 
of concentration and meditation. The 
study of Raja Yoga thus leads us gradu- 
ally from the grosser to the subtler forces 
of our organism and shows us how to 
bring them under our control and unite 
them into one concentrated energy. The 
purpose of this, however, is not merely 
to bring health or psychic power, but to 
gain absolute self-mastery. 

Bhakti Yoga. 

Bhakti Yoga is the path of love and 
devotion. It is the most natural path to 
follow, because we all have love in our 
hearts. As long as this love is given to 



28 Vedanta Philosophy 

the changeable and ephemeral things of 
this world, so long it causes us disap- 
pointment, suffering and bondage; but 
when it is withdrawn from these and 
turned towards God, then it becomes 
Bhakti. Hence Bhakti Yoga teaches us 
how we can direct all our emotion and 
feeling toward the Supreme, who is the 
source of all beauty and bliss. Since 
He is the one eternal and unchangeable 
Being, in Him alone we can find un- 
broken happiness. Thus Bhakti means 
devotion to God; attachment to any 
worldly object is not Bhakti. This ideal 
love is almost inconceivable as long as 
there is thirst for money, name, fame, 
power, or sense pleasure; but when all 
trace of selfishness and worldly desire 
is wiped out, we realize that nothing 
external or transitory can satisfy the 
hunger of our heart, but that He is the 
only object worthy to be loved. 



Vedanta Philosophy 29 

To a devotee God is not a mere theory 
or abstract ideal, but an actual living 
Being, with whom he communes and 
with whom he bears a definite relation, 
such as of child, or friend, or servant. 
All these relationships are established 
in order that we may feel that we have 
a claim on God and a sense of nearness 
to Him. Love has wonderful uniting 
power and when this Divine love dawns 
in the heart of the devotee, he feels in 
direct touch with the Ideal and his 
every thought, word and action is offered 
as a service to the Beloved. 

Jnana Yoga. 

Jnana Yoga is the path of philosophic 
discrimination and is especially suited 
to those of intellectual tendency. Its 
aim is to find the luminous spirit within, 
for a Jnani does not accept any other 
God than his own Self, which is the 



30 Vedanta Philosophy 

Self of all. This is accomplished 
through the process of "Neti, Neti," 
"Not this, Not this," or by distinguish- 
ing the real from the unreal, the true 
from the false. In order to find this 
cosmic ego or universal Self, he first re- 
moves all limited egoism, differentiating 
himself from the body, mind, senses and 
all the gross objects of this perishable 
world. This can only be done by the 
constant rigid denial of the lower self, 
but he who perseveres with earnestness 
and determination will gradually leave 
behind him all the unrealities of the 
phenomenal universe and find his true 
Self within. Then he is able to declare 
with conviction "I am He," "I am the 
Truth," "I am the Absolute Brahman," 
"I and my Father are one." 

It does not necessarily mean that be- 
cause there are four distinct methods, we 



Vedanta Philosophy 31 

cannot combine all in our practice of 
Yoga. No character is perfect which is 
lacking in any of these. In fact, we 
cannot follow one successfully without 
the help of the others. Nobody can be 
a true worker without having discrimi- 
nation, self-control and devotion to his 
work. Neither can one become a 
true lover without possessing properly- 
directed activity, right judgment and 
self-control. Therefore all these must 
go hand in hand. But in every character 
one tendency invariably predominates 
and that determines the special path. 
But we must bear in mind that all these 
paths lead to the same goal. 

Universality of Vedanta. 

"As the different streams, having their 
sources in different places, all mingle 
their waters in the great sea; similarly, 
the different paths which men take 



32 Vedanta Philosophy 

through different tendencies!, however 
divergent they may appear, crooked or 
straight, all lead to Thee, O Lord." 

From the crudest form of symbol- 
worship to the loftiest conception of ab- 
stract truth, every phase of religion has 
a place in the religion of Vedanta. It 
enables a dualist to find his highest ideal 
of self-surrender at the feet of the Lord; 
and a monist to realize his true Self 
within as the Self of all, without depend- 
ing on any external form of God. 

An Infinite Being must be both with 
form and without form. The sages de- 
fine Him as unknown and unknowable, 
because it is impossible for the finite 
mind to comprehend the Infinite fully. 
Therefore the teaching of Vedanta never 
labels the path of God by one name or 
sect, but recognizes the necessity for in- 
numerable forms of worship to suit the 
varying degrees of development among 



Vedanta Philosophy 33 

human beings. It does not interfere 
with any man's natural way of thinking, 
but furthers his growth by lending him a 
sympathetic and helping hand wherever 
he stands. It accepts all the Sacred 
Scriptures of the world and bows down 
in reverence before all Saviours and 
prophets. It believes that the same 
Gospel of Truth is preached by all, the 
only difference is that of language and 
not of the essential meaning. There is, 
therefore, no room for proselytizing in 
Vedanta. 

It teaches each one how to attain the 
highest in his own religion, but tells him 
that he must allow the same privilege 
to his brother, who may be following 
some other apparently different path. 
In the religion of Vedanta all are 
children of God and have equal claim on 
Him. Thus it leaves no place for dis- 
sensions; but seeing the one Divine 



34 Vedanta Philosophy 

Power behind all forms of worship, it 
proclaims universal tolerance and as- 
similation, and to all mankind gives this 
benediction : 

"May He who is the Father in Heaven 
of the Christians, Allah of the Moham- 
medans, Buddha of the Buddhists, Ahura 
Mazda of the Zoroastrians, and Divine 
Mother and Brahman of the Hindus, 
grant unto all peace and blessing. 
Peace! Peace! Peace be unto us and to 
all living beings !" 



Vedanta Philosophy 35 

"Vedanta is the most sublime of all philoso- 
phies, and the most comforting of all reli- 
gions." 

Prof, Max Muller. 

"On the tree of Indian wisdom there is no 
fairer flower than the Upanishads, no finer 
fruit than the Vedanta philosophy." 

Paul Deussen. 

"When we read with attention the poetical 
and philosophical monuments of the East, 
above all, those of India, which are beginning 
to spread in Europe, we discover there many a 
truth, and truths so profound, and which make 
such a contrast with the meanness of the re- 
sults at which the European genius has some- 
times stopped, that we are constrained to bend 
the knee before the philosophy of the East, 
and to see in this cradle of the human race 
the native land of the highest philosophy." 

Victor Cousin. 

"Even the loftiest philosophy of the Euro- 
peans, the idealism of reason, as it is set forth 
by Greek philosophers, appears in comparison 
with the abundant light and vigor of Oriental 
idealism, like a feeble Promethean spark in the 
full flood of heavenly glory of the noonday 



36 Vedanta Philosophy 

sun — faltering and feeble, and ever ready to 
be extinguished." 

Frederick Schlegel. 



"What extracts from the Vedas I have read, 
' fall on me like the light of a higher and purer 
luminary which describes a loftier course 
through a purer stratum,— free from particu- 
lars, simple, universal. The Vedas contain a 
sensible account of God." 

Thoreau. 



"In the whole world there is no study so 
beneficial and so elevating as that of the 
Upanishads (Vedanta). It has been the solace 
of my life, it will be the solace of my death." 

Schopenhauer. 

"If philosophy is meant to be a preparation 
for a happy death, or Euthanasia, I know of 
no better preparation for it than the Vedanta 
philosophy." 

Prof. Max Muller. 

"The history of Indian philosophy is the 
abridged history of the philosophy of the 
world." 

Victor Cousin. 



Vedanta Philosophy 37 

"It is impossible to read the Vedanta, 
or the many fine compositions in illustration 
of it, without believing that Pythagoras and 
Plato derived their sublime theories from the 
same fountain with the sages of India." 

Sir William Jones. 

"Indeed, if I may be allowed the anachro- 
nism, the Hindus were Spinozites more than 
2,000 years before the existence of Spinoza; 
and Darwinians many centuries before Dar- 
win ; and evolutionists many centuries before 
the doctrine of evolution was accepted by the 
scientists of our time, and before any word 
like evolution existed in any language of the 
world." 

Sir Monier Monier Williams. 

"To say nothing of Indian Sages to whom 
evolution was a familiar notion, ages before 
Paul of Tarsus was born." 

Huxley. 

"Thus the Vedanta philosophy leaves to 
every man a wide sphere of real usefulness, it 
leaves him a Deity to worship as omnipotent 
and majestic as the deities of any other re- 
ligion. It has room for almost every religion, 
nay, it embraces them all." 

Prof. Max Muller. 



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Cloth, Gilt top, $1.00; postage 5 cts. Paper, 50 cts.; postage 3 cts. 

CONTENTS. 

J. Devotion. II. Purity. III. Steadfastness. 

IV. Fearlessness. V. Self-Surrender. 

VI. Sanskrit Prayers and Salutations. 

"Something new comes from the pen of Swami 
Paramananda, a Hindu who writes faultless English and 
has acquired a style, the simplicity, directness, and 
lucidity of which many a Christian Divine might do well 
to emulate." — Cleveland Plain-Dealer. 

"The purpose of the author is to furnish suggestions 
that will solve the problems of the day as they arise. 
. . . . The author breathes a spirit of deep Oriental 
religious fervor that has for its occidental prototype 
nothing this side of the devotees of mediaevil times." — 
San Francisco Call. 

"This is not a book of theory, but of practice. Its 
theme is one outside of philosophy. It gives wisdom for 
the inner life and its outer manifestations. Without 
doubt, the book will have a wide reading." — Detroit 
Times. 

"This book has the same ring of strength, boldness 
and universal sympathy that is to be found in every page 
of Swami Vivekananda's writings. The words are so 
alive that they seem rather spoken than written. . . . 
No one can read the book without gaining a new 
impetus for the spiritual life and fresh courage to meet 
the difficult conditions of life in the world." — Indian 
Review. 

"A spirit of deep religious fervor and strength per- 
meates the whole book and reminds one of Brother 
Lawrence. It is a book to be read with profit." — Unity, 
Kansas City. 



1910 



VEDANTA IN PRACTICE 

Cloth, Gilt top, $1.00. Postage, 6 cts. 

CONTENTS 

I.— Need of Spiritual Life. II.— Right Discrimination. 

Ill— Building of Gharacter. IV.— Power of Goncentra- 
tration. V.— Self-Realization. VI.— Selections from the 
Upanishads and other Scriptures. 

"It is a thoughtful companion anywhere on the way 
of life. This makes a good first book for one who wishes 
to become acquainted with Oriental philosophy at its 
best. The book will aid in the cultivation of the habit 
of concentration. . . . There are in this little volume 
also suggestions for the cultivation of right discrimination 
and for self-realization." — Chicago Evening Post. 

"In a series of polished essays under the title of 
'Vedanta in Practice,' the Swami Paramananda under- 
takes to show that the philosophical religion of India, as 
exemplified by the Vedanta, is no abstract creed to dream 
by, but may be so applied to every phase of human exist- 
ence as to constitute the most practical code of living 
according to the best that is in man. . . . The breadth 
and toleration exhibited by the author in reference to 
other religions, commend themselves to fair-minded 
readers." — San Francisco Chronicle. 

"An attractive and useful little volume. . . . The 
author aims to present the principles of Vedanta doctrine 
in so simple and practical a way that they can be applied 
in the daily lives of disciples." — Cleveland Plain-Dealer. 

"We have rarely found the difference between intel- 
lectual certainty and moral certainty better defined than 
in *Vedanta in Practice.' " — Boston Herald. 



The True Spirit of Religion is Universal. 

(With an essay on IDOLS AND IDEALS) 
Paper, 25 cts. Postage 2 cts. 



THE BAKER & TAYLOR CO., Publishers 

33 East 17th Street, New York 









LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



029 537 907 8 












